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Over at The Daily Beast this week, I look at a study coming out of Penn State from Michael H. Pasek and Jonathan E. Cook on the feeling of threat experienced by religious individuals, particularly those with high religiosity (“How Religious Fear is Shaping the Culture War”). I interview Pasek, as well as Robert P. Jones of PRRI, Besheer Mohamed of Pew Research, David Curry of Open Doors USA, and Joshua Stanton of East End Temple in New York.

It is an in-depth look at why American religious groups believe they are targeted and points out that the ramifications for the country’s future may not be what we sometimes think. Here you go:

“….On Monday, the Supreme Court allowed President Trump’s travel ban to take effect. That he doesn’t hide his anti-Muslim sentiments well is not a secret—a firestorm erupted over his unapologetic sharing of anti-Muslim videos from Britain First in November, and six of the eight countries in the newly approved ban are still predominantly Muslim.

The president’s use of a culture war exploits far right religious motives and fears. But there are good reasons to believe that this strategy, while effective for an election last year, is ultimately short-sighted….”

Over at The Daily Beast, I have a new piece on how technology influences religion, particularly in the areas of artificial intelligence and transhumanism (“The New Religions Obsessed with A.I.”). Check it out.

“How far should we integrate human physiology with technology? What do we do with self-aware androids—like Blade Runner’s replicants—and self-aware supercomputers? Or the merging of our brains with them? If Ray Kurzweil’s famous singularity—a future in which the exponential growth of technology turns into a runaway train—becomes a reality, does religion have something to offer in response?”